Help with anxiety! GABA?
 

I remembered that some members of the original Brain talk used GABA as part of their supplement program. My son has been making so many bathroom trips that it is having a negative impact on his life. He also had what appeared to be a panic attack the other night. He has been taking Inositol for the past year and it does help. I would like to try adding 5HTP nd GABA. I am having difficulty finding info on the GABA. What is a safe, effective dosage? My son is almost 10 and about 60 lbs when soaking wet. Also, does it need to be taken on an empty stomach? Is GABA the best supp to take or would he do better with a precursor to it? He does test borderline for pyroluria. He takes Zinc, Mg., B6, p5p, EPO, C, multi vit and melatonin. Is vit. D important? His tics are fairly minor at the moment. The anxiety is becoming more of an issue. Laurie

What dose of inositol?
 

The reason I ask is that we found a "ceiling" for this nutrient.

When my son reached several weeks on 2 grams a day, he started getting
"hyper" all of a sudden. So now he skips a day every other day and that
effect has diminished. It may be that inositol resets levels of something else
in the brain, and when that happens it is less needed...(that is a theory of mine, based on observation).

My son has an anxiety diagnosis and inositol has been the best intervention for him of all the things we have done.

Taking GABA itself is a mixed bag..I have looked this up and found that some believe oral is useless, others say it works, and then there are papers to
say too much creates irritability (sounds like the inositol reaction?). If you decide to try it, I'd go slowly and not take high doses.
example:
http://www.raysahelian.com/gaba.html

Serotonin is also involved in anxiety states, so 5-HTP or tryptophan may work.
I would go slow and low with this as well.

Hi Laurie

We did try GABA some years ago when his anxiety level was very high (500mg/day) and it helped, but our doc recommended it as short term only and my son found it made him way too drowsy, even at that low dose

We have actually found Bach's Rescue Remedy (Flower remedy) to be a real help for stress and anxiety
A few drops sublingually seems to produce very quick calming
We dont use it routinely...just when really needed
It is available at most health stores

Also my son really finds the Epsom Salts baths to be extremely relaxing
I add a few drops of Lavender Oil for extra relaxation along with giving him a cup of chamomille tea

I also now grow lavender in my garden, and find putting a few leaves inside his pillow cover promotes very peaceful sleep

re Inositol and 5HTP:
as mrsD says....doseage is key there! and depends very much on individual biochemistry

my son cant take higher than 500mg per day of inositol and 50mg per night of 5HTP (also gets 100mg Vit B6 per day with these...50mg morning with the Inositol, 50mg evening with the 5HTP)

Thank you Mrs. D and Chemar for the information. He is taking a total of 1100 mg of Iositol, 550 mg. in the morning and at night. I started him on 50mg. of tryptophan at night. I have been putting it in his smoothie even though it has an enteric coating. Will it still work? GABA does sound like a waste of my money. I have used a blend of Melissa and other calming herbs(Melissa Supreme) in the past with some luck. I am going to start him back on a maintenance level of it until he smoothes out a bit. He is in his 3rd week of a new school. He loves the school, however all the change is stressful. It's interesting to see that his ticcing has not increased at home or at school. The diet and supplements seem to be working.The anxiety though has definitely increased. His home outbursts appear to be anxiety driven not rages like he has had in the past. Once again, thank you for your wisdom. It makes figuring this out alot easier.

Laurie